Multiple outlet valve



May 17, 1955 K. F. MAUER MULTIPLE OUTLET VALVE Filed sept. 28. 195o A TTORNE Y.

MULTPLE GUTLET VALVE Karl F. Mauer, Forest Hills, N. Y. Application September 28, 1956, Serial No. 187,288 2 Claims. (Cl. IS7-612.1)

The present invention relates generally to valves, and particularly to valves for use in aquaria, although, as will be obvious, there are additional uses therefor. particularly, the present invention relates to a valve structure wherewith it is possible to perform the operations or functions normally requiring two, three or more conventional valves. In the operation and maintenance of home aquaria, it is desirable and necessary to perform a plurality of operations. It is necessary to filter the water, to provide a bleed exit for excess air, and to introduce air into the water via a device known as an aerator. To operate these items, one conventional valve is needed for the water filter; another conventional valve is required for the aerator; and a third conventional valve is called for to operate the air bleed, to relieve undue amount of air pressure.

The main object of the present invention, therefore, is the provision of a single valve, so constructed as to include means to service or operate a water iilter, an aerator and an air bleed.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a valve having an air inlet at one end thereof, and an air bleed at the other end, and having a plurality of air exit ports at diiferent levels between the inlet and exit ends of the valve.

Still another object of the present invention is tie provision of a valve comprising an elongated body member longitudinally apertured, having an inlet at one end, an adjustable bleed at the opposite end, an exit port for a filter and an exit port for an aerator, the said ports being provided at diiferent levels between the inlet and exit ends of the body and transversely of the axis of the body.

Still another object of the present invention is the provision of a valve of the character described, having an elongated body longitudinally extending passageway therethrough, said passageway having cross-sectional areas of different size, and having an air inlet at one end, an air bleed outlet at the opposite end, the exit ports between, the ports being associated with diiferent areas of the passageway.

Other, further and more specific objects of the present invention will in part be obvious and in part specifically pointed out in the following description of an illustrative embodiment thereof.

In the drawings annexed hereto and forming a part hereof,

Figure l is a perspective view of one form of device constructed according to and embodying the present invention;

Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line 2-2 of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a vertical section on the line 3 3 of Figure 2.

The valve constructed according to the present invention is indicated generally by reference numeral 10, and consists of an elongated body 12 having a longitudinally extending central passageway 14 therethrough from end to end. A nozzle 16 is tapped into the bottom end 18 maar 1C Patented May 17 1955 of body 12, nozzle 16 having an opening 20 longitudinally therethrough in communication with passageway 14. The lower part of body 12, adjacent to but upwardly of bottom 18, is transversely cored, as at 22, to receive a sliding shut-off 24, having an enlarged head 26 at one end and an enlarged cap 28 threaded into the opposite end, whereby shut-off 24 is trapped onto body 12. An annular groove 3d is provided about shut-of 24, so spaced from head 26 that when head 26 is pushed inwardly and against body 12 (to the left as in Figure 3), passageway 14 is opened, whereas, when head 26 is drawn away from body 12, as shown in Figure 3, passageway 14- is blocked, and no air or other iiuid will pass shut-off 24.

At about the center of body 12, an exit port 32 is provided by a coring as 33 at right angles to passageway 1i; and in communication therewith, a longitudinally apertured nozzle 34 being tapped into body 12 for attachment of conduit means thereto (not shown). Upwardly of and past exit port 32, the cross-sectional area of passageway 14 is greatly increased, the passageway flaring outwardly as at 36 to form a chamber 37. As seen in Figures 2 and 3, the diameter of the passageway is approximately trebled in chamber 37 over passageway 14, thereby increasing the cross-sectional area by about nine times. Chamber 37 is internally threaded, as at 38, to engage the threaded body di) of a shaft 42, shaft 42 being longitudinally apertured as at fifi. As seen in Figures 2 and 3, the lower end of shaft 42 is of stepped formation terminating in a narrow needle nose 46 extending into passageway 14 at about the level of exit port 32. The upper end of body 12 is inwardly stepped, and externally threaded, as at d8, to which threads a lock cap 50 is secured, a packing gland 52 being interposed between the top S4 of body 12 and the underside of cap 5t), to seal the device against escape of air or other fluid passing through the valve. The upper end of shaft 42 is shouldered outwardly, and peripherally knurled, as at S6, to provide manually operable means whereby shaft 42 may be vertically adjusted with respect to body 12.

The upper end of shaft 42 is inwardly recessed as at d8, recess 58, communicating with passageway 44, being internally threaded as at 6d to receive the inwardly directed extension of a shaft 62, said shaft 62 being longitudinally apertured as at 6ft and having an enlarged head 66 knurled for manual actuation thereof to vary the penetration of shaft extension 62 into recess 5S. A ball 68 is disposed at the bottom of recess 58 over aperture 44, and a normally expanding coil spring 7i) trapped between ball 68 and the underside of extension 62.

A second exit port is provided in body 12, said port 8l) being located above the rst port 32, and formed by a horizontally extending coring S1 into body 12 at right angles to passageway 1d and at an angle to the first port 32; it being noted that coring 81 communicates with passageway 14 at its increased cross-sectional area portion adjacent the point at which passageway 14 narrows. A longitudinally apertured nozzle 82 is tapped into body 12 to communicate with coring 81 and passageway 14.

As desired, or as convenient, a bracket assembly is secured to body 12 whereby the valve of the present invention may be attached to a suitable support, as for instance, the wall of a tank or the like.

The operation of the device is readily apparent from the foregoing description and from the drawings. Air or other fluid is introduced under pressure through nozzle 16, and when shut-off 24 is open, will travel up passageway 14. The needle nose tip 46 of shaft 40, opposite exit port 32, does not close oit said port, but permits the air to travel therethrough, out nozzle 34 and to a suitable apparatus, as an aerator disposed within the tank or aquaria (not shown). By rotational manipulation of head 56, shaft 40 will be raised or lowered, the raising thereof permitting air to pass into the chamber at 37, and simultaneously into needle passageway 44. As port 80 is cleared, air will ow thereinto and through nozzle 82 into another device, as a water filter, also associated with the tank (not shown). The adjustment of head S6 is relatively simple, and by means thereof, with a single device, two separate and distinct apparatuses are controlled. By adjustment of head 66, the pressure of spring 70 on ball check 68 is so controlled that when the air pressure through needle passageway 44 exceeds a predetermined amount, it will overcome the pressure of spring 70 and permit the air to bleed past ball 68, into chamber 58 and out through needle passageway 64 in shaft 62.

One port, as 32, is associated with the narrow portion of passageway 14; the other port Si? being associated with chamber 37, of substantially greater cross-sectional area than passageway 14. By actuation of head 56, port Si) may be closed off, the valve then having a single exit port and the air bleed in shaft 62. When port Si) is cleared,

the valve has a plurality of ports in addition to the air bleed. Once the settings are determined with respect to the constant air pressure, the valve of the present invention need not be manipulated further to perform the multiple functions which formerly required a separate valve for each.

Having described the invention, what is claimed and desired to be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. A device of the character described comprising an elongated body member, a fluid passageway longitudinally therethrough, upwardly from the lower end thereof, the passageway substantially increasing in cross-sectional area past the midpoint thereof, a duid exit port transversely oif the passageway at the narrower part thereof, and a fluid exit port transversely off the passageway at the wider part thereof, and means to bleed oft" excess fluid at the upper end of the device, said body having a longitudinally apertured elongated stem projecting thereinto from the top thereof, said stern having a tapered nose portion projecting into the narrower portion of the passageway and having shouldered means to close off the passageway in the body beyond the said narrower portion, the bleeding means projecting into the stem from the top thereof, the stem and bleeding means being manually operable from outside the body.

2. A device of the character described comprising an elongated body portion, an aperture longitudinally therethrough, a fluid entrance port at one end of the body, a rst elongated shaft disposed within the body, the upper end thereof extending upwardly of and out of the body, and an aperture longitudinally therethrough in communication with the aperture through the body, a second elongated shaft disposed within the first shaft the upper end of said second shaft also extending upwardly of and out of the body and of the first shaft and an aperture longitudinally through the second shaft with one end thereof in communication with the aperture through the first shaft and the other end thereof communicating with the atmosphere and constituting a fluid exit port, and means positioned between the first and second shafts normally closing off the aperture through the second shaft and the exit port, the first and second shafts being disposed within the end of the body remote from the entrance port, the body portion having a first exit port transversely therethrough adjacent the lower end of the first shaft and a second exit port transversely therethrough longitudinally spaced from said first port, one of said ports being in constant communication with the inlet port, the other port being selectively closeable in response to movement of the first shaft.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,653,613 Bast Dec. 27, 1927 1,891,586 Woerner Dec. 20, 1932 1,932,921 Bezzarri Oct. 31, 1933 1,990,493 Loughead Feb. 12, 1935 2,228,701 Hanson lan. 14, 1941 2,351,873 Parker `Tune 20, 1944 2,524,129 Klein Oct. 3, 1950 2,548,902 Mueller Apr. 17, 1951 

